Hayes enjoys Notre Dame visit

Five-star USC linebacker commit Daelin Hayes used the first weekend of the college football season to take an unofficial visit to Notre Dame on Saturday.

"I had a great time," Hayes said. "From the moment I got on campus I felt like I was a priority recruit."

Hayes made the trip to South Bend with his mother and one of his coaches. They arrived early to meet with the coaches and check out the campus.

"Before they went out on the field I had probably a 20-25 minute meeting with Coach (Brian) Kelly just discussing the plan for me and how they would use me as far as coaching style," Hayes said. "Mom had a few of her own questions about the family being able to come to games and that trust about sending your son to go play for a coach, that you would continue to develop and come back a better young man than when I came in as a freshman."

Hayes has heard rumors that some teams may be looking to use him on offense, but he received clarification from Kelly about Notre Dame's plans were he to sign with them.

"I just asked him flat out where he plans to use me and he said, 'defense,'" Hayes said. "He said they would use me as a hybrid edge player, similar to how they use Jaylon (Smith).

"He said 'one of the reasons why you are special to us as a recruit is you'll get a d-end or you'll get a linebacker and it is a rare occasion you get a guy who is big enough and fast enough to do both.' That appealed to me, obviously."

The 6-foot-3, 254-pound Hayes is often compared to Smith from a playing style standpoint, and he holds a lot of respect for the Notre Dame linebacker.

"I got to spend some time with Jaylon, so that was the highlight of the trip for me," Hayes said.

A return trip to South Ben is already planned for the weekend of Oct. 16. That will be an official visit for Hayes and this past weekend's experience has heightened his anticipation for that trip.

"It just made me excited to take my official," Hayes said. "I have never been to a USC game so I have nothing to compare it to, but Notre Dame set the bar pretty darn high."

Hayes has a tentative official visit scheduled to USC the weekend of Nov. 27 when the Trojans play host to rival UCLA, but he is hoping to move that date up to mid-October. His commitment to the Trojans remains intact despite this weekend's unofficial visit to Notre Dame.

"Things haven't changed. I've talked to them several times in the last two weeks. I am really just excited to see my first game. I have never seen the Coliseum on game day.

"Right now it is really just Notre Dame and USC. Those are my top two, I guess you could call it."

Hayes has noted the recruiting interest has picked up substantially in recent weeks from schools across the country. One additional official visit he is considering is to Ole Miss the weekend of Nov. 21.

"Ole Miss, this is the first time they have gotten into the picture," Hayes said. "Their coaches have been hitting me up pretty hard via social media, so I figured why not?"

Hayes is ranked as the No. 13 overall player, the No. 3 outside linebacker prospect and the No. 1 player in the state of Michigan for the 2016 class.

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